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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25129750">Prom Night Drama</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DOOMLover21/pseuds/DOOMLover21'>DOOMLover21</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Widojest Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Drama &amp; Romance, F/F, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:08:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25129750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DOOMLover21/pseuds/DOOMLover21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Fjord dumps Jester for Avantika, Jester is devastated.  Can Beau convince their nerdy friend Caleb to take his place?  Critical Role Campaign 2.   Rated for language.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast, Yeza Brenatto/Nott | Veth Brenatto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Widojest Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818529</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Widojest Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Prom Night Drama</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>AN: This is for Day 2 of Widojest Week 2020: dressed up. I will admit that this one got away from me a little bit and I ended up writing FAAAAAAAAARRRRRR more than I had originally intended to.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Prom Night Drama</strong>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>
    <strong>AN</strong>
  </span>
  <strong>: This is for Day 2 of Widojest Week 2020: dressed up. I will admit that this one got away from me a little bit and I ended up writing FAAAAAAAAARRRRRR more than I had originally intended to.</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not going. Fjord is such a jerk, and I'll never be happy again!" the blue tiefling dramatically sobs. Her best friend turns to look at her all splayed out on her frilly rainbow-colored comforter. She's always known her friend to be dramatic and emotional at times; so, her actions now don't surprise her. The tiefling's tail wipes tears from her eyes as she continues silently sobbing.</p><p>"Uh…well, Jessie," the dark-skinned human starts as she slinks to the bed. She sits down on the edge and clears her throat. Comforting people was never her strong suit.</p><p>"Umm…" she wracks her brain for something comforting to say.</p><p>"It's okay, Beau. You don't have to try and cheer me up. I've just got to face facts that I'm really not as great and that Fjord is better off without me."</p><p>"Well I say, fuck that guy straight to the fucking nine hells! He's an ass, and you don't deserve to be with someone like that," she argues. Her mind is a whirl of different ways to make this situation better, and regrettably, the only thing she can come up with would entail involving someone she knows is not a fan of social gatherings of any kind.</p><p>"Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhh, I guess," she breathes out resignedly. Her tail depressedly twitches, and she heaves another sigh.</p><p>"I still can't go to prom, though," the normally cheerful tiefling snivels. Beauregard does her best imitation of a fish as her best friend sniffles again.</p><p>"Why the fuck not?" she demands.</p><p>"Well, I don't have any liiiike, date or anyone to go with, and it's totally too late to, liiiike, ask someone else to go with me," she whines. Beau nods. This definitely wasn't her smartest idea, but now she had to at least try, for Jester's sake. She reaches into her pocket for her phone and sends a text to a mutual friend and classmate.</p><p><em>'Hey, nerd. I need a favor,'</em> she texts.</p><p><em>'I'm </em><em><strong>NOT</strong></em><em> doing your homework for you again, Beauregard,'</em> is the immediate response.</p><p><em>'Look, I only did that the one time,'</em> she argues.</p><p>"Don't worry, Jess. We'll find someone to go with you…Umm, what about Caddyshack?" she asks off-handedly while thinking about how she's going to word her request. Jester sits up and sticks her tongue out.</p><p>"Eww, Caduceus? No way! Besides, he wouldn't want to go anyways," Jester argues.</p><p><em>'Mmmhmm…'</em> Beau's phone trills at her.</p><p><em>'Shut up, Widogast! Now ya gonna do me the favor or not?'</em> she types. Jester cranes her neck to look at her best friend's phone.</p><p>"Ooooo….Who ya texting?" she sings out. Beau hums and continues typing out a series of emojis to her friend.</p><p>"Oooooo…I bet I know who it is!" Jester continues singing. Beau hums again as her phone trills out a series of laughing emojis.</p><p>"It's Yasha, isn't it?" Jester asks as she once again tries and fails to peak at Beau's phone.</p><p><em>'It's not funny, Widogast! This shit is serious,'</em> she angrily types out.</p><p>
  <em>'Mmmmhmmm…' he texts back.</em>
</p><p>'Now ya gonna help me out or not?' she asks again with another series of angry emojis.</p><p>"I bet it is. So, what are you telling her? Are you asking her out to prom?" Jester questions. Beau doesn't answer as her phone goes off again.</p><p>
  <em>'Depends on the favor.'</em>
</p><p>"Ooooooo….I beeeeet you're telling Yasha how much you looooooove her and how much you want to totally have all sorts of sex and stuff with her," Jester teases. Beau chokes on her own spittle as she finally hears what her friend's been saying.</p><p>"What?! No!" she quickly exclaims perhaps a bit too defensively.</p><p>"I bet you tell her that kind of stuff aaaaaaaallllllll the time!" A mischievous grin curls up her blue-skinned cheeks.</p><p>"No!...I mean, welllll not all the time, but not it's not Yasha," she argues in a futile attempt at defending herself. She playfully punches her friend in the arm only to be rewarded with girlish giggles.</p><p><em>'I need someone to go to the stupid prom with,'</em> she hits send and hopes she won't regret having just said that.</p><p>"Soooooooo, who is it then if it's not Yasha? 'Cause you're typing preeeeetttttty fast and stuff," her pink-clad friend points out. She kicks her legs from the side of the bed in a playful manner as she waits for an answer. Not for the first time, Jester wonders if she can kick her legs hard enough to make her dress fly up completely.</p><p>"Ummmm…..It's…uh…Veth. She wanted to know if we wanted to hang out," Beau lies. Jester launches herself feet first off the bed just as Beau's phone trills again.</p><p><em>'Did Yasha turn you down?' </em>She struggles to come up with an aloof answer and instead simply types, <em>'Shut up!'</em>.</p><p>"So, are we going to meet with Veth or not?" Jester asks. Beau panics inside as she struggles to come up with an excuse.</p><p>"Uh…why don't you start getting ready and I'll ask her where we're meeting?"</p><p>"Okay!" Jester claps eagerly. She rushes out of the room, and Beau breathes a sigh of momentary relief.</p><p><em>'Hey, Veth, where ya at?' </em>she texts.</p><p><em>'with caleb café</em>,' is the response.</p><p>
  <em>'Cool. Me and Jess will meet ya there in say ten mins. And if she asks, you were talking to me this whole time.'</em>
</p><p>
  <em>'y would she ask that?'</em>
</p><p>'<em>It doesn't matter'</em></p><p>'<em>were you txtin yasha and dont want her to know?'</em></p><p>'<em>Ummm, no.'</em></p><p>'<em>Beauregard, Veth tells me you are acting…odd?'</em></p><p>'<em>Yeah, sure, whatever I'll see you in ten,' </em>she types out. It isn't until she gets the text back that she realizes her mistake.</p><p><em>'You're coming here?'</em> She slaps a hand to her forehead.</p><p><em>'Shit! Fuck! That was supposed to be for Veth,' </em>she backpedals.</p><p><em>'I figured as much and let her know. But why are you asking me to prom for? You know I have no intentions on going,'</em> he responds back.</p><p><em>'It's complicated.' </em>Before she can come up with any more excuses to tell her classmate, Jester comes back into the room with her brightly colored lollipop bag around her and her makeup redone.</p><p>"Hey, did you figure out where we're meeting?"</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"Sooooooo, where is it?"</p><p>"The café down the street." Jester pumps her fist in triumph.</p><p>"Yes! I LOOOOOOOOVVEE that place! They have all sorts of good pastries and stuff!" Beau laughs as she watches the tiefling dance around the room in circles, her tail excitedly swaying with each motion.</p><p>'Well, that's one way to cheer her up,' Beau thinks as she watches Jester a moment more with a smile.</p><p>A few moments later, the human, tiefling duo are making their way into Jester's third favorite place to get baked goods. The whole way, the green cloak wearing girl talks animatedly about her prom dress options. Beau hums and occasionally offers an opinion here or there, but mostly she just listens to her friend rant.</p><p>"So, what do you think I should wear? I mean I reeeeeeeaaaaaallllllly like the lace and stuff on the pink one, buuuuuuutttttttt the purpley one is suuuuuuuuper big and poofy and makes me look like a princess," Jester asks as they enter.</p><p>"Well, they both sound hot to me," she answers.</p><p>"You already do," a soft Zemnian accented voice whispers from beside her at the same time. She nearly punches the red-haired man in shock as she spins around to look at him.</p><p>"Jesus, Caleb! You scared the fuck outta me!" she scolds. One of his eyebrows quirks upwards.</p><p>"Awwwwwww, thanks, Cayleb! You are suuuuuuuuper sweet!" Jester gushes. A bright redness rises on the man's face that grows to nearly match the color of his auburn locks.</p><p>"Hi, guys!" his companion calls out. Jester rushes over and sweeps the chubby halfling off her feet.</p><p>"Hiya, Veth!" As Jester and Veth make their pleasantries, Beau sneaks over to Caleb to whisper in his ear.</p><p>"Hey, you never answered me about that damn favor."</p><p>"You nefer answered me about why you're asking me to prom instead of Yasha," he mutters. She waves her hand dismissively.</p><p>"Never mind that. It's not important," she whispers.</p><p>"Hey, Beau! Let's go order! I totally want to get, liiiiiiiike, bear claws, and doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls, and…" Jester sings out. She tugs at Beau's arm as she lists off some of her favorite baked goods.</p><p>"Yeah, sure, okay." She follows her tiefling friend to the counter and orders a doughnut and a coffee for herself as Jester orders a bear claw, a jelly doughnut, and a chocolate milk. They bring their purchases back to their friends and start eating. As Beau eats her doughnut, she texts Veth from underneath the table.</p><p><em>'Hey, do you think you can do me a favor and not tell Jester about it?'</em> Veth looks at her phone and quickly types out a reply.</p><p><em>'wat is it?'</em> As the pair are typing, Jester finishes up her doughnut and moves onto her bear claw, but not before she licks some jelly off of her fingers.</p><p><em>'Do you think you can convince Caleb to go to the prom with Jester, but not tell him that he's going with Jester?'</em> she asks. Caleb raises his eyebrow again as Veth and Beau type out messages furiously to one another, but he otherwise ignores them and returns to reading his book.</p><p><em>'y do u not him to no that he's going with jessie?'</em> Veth types back.</p><p><em>'Jester doesn't know that I'm doing this, and I kind of, maybe, asked Caleb to go with me'</em> Beau replies.</p><p><em>'r u going with caleb, then? i thought u liked yasha'</em> Veth answers. The halfling squints her eyes at Beau as if trying to figure out whether or not she's lying. Jester leans over to Caleb and startles him as she whispers in his ear.</p><p>"What do you think they are dooooooiiiiiiiiinnnnnng typing back and forth like that?" He takes a few gasping breaths to calm his furiously beating heart.</p><p>"I don't…."</p><p>"Ooooooo, maaaaaaybeee they're talking to their lovers and telling them all sorts of sexy things they'd like to do to them, liiiiiike, later on," Jester interrupts. Caleb's mouth hangs over for a few moments before he grimaces and scrunches his nose. Jester knows that the strange face he's making is his way of processing not only what their original conversation was but this new side topic she brought up and the suddenness with which she brought it up. He opens his mouth, closes it again, and then finally lets out a sigh.</p><p>"I'm not so sure about zat," he says slowly.</p><p><em>'I am going with Yasha, but I need YOU to make your nerdy roommate to THINK that I'm the one asking him to go with him,' </em>Beau texts out.</p><p><em>'y doesn't jester go with fjord? i thought they were dating'</em> Veth asks through text.</p><p><em>'They were, but Fjord's dumbass just got back with that bitch Avantika.' </em>Beau glances over at Jester and notices her having a heated debate with Caleb over what people text their significant others. She rolls her eyes. She most assuredly doesn't want to know how they got onto that subject, and with the uncomfortable expression on the redheaded nerd's face, she reasons that he doesn't want to talk about it any more than Beau would.</p><p><em>'roger! i'll get caleb to go with you. i'll even help him find an outfit,' </em>Veth agrees. She sends Beau a series of thumbs-up emojis. The rest of their hangout session goes by uneventfully, and within no time at all the strange group of friends find themselves going their separate ways. Beau and Jester wave to Veth and Caleb as they head off in the opposite direction to them.</p><p>"Hey, Beau! Wanna spend the night at my house? I'm sure that mama won't mind," Jester asks as they leave Veth and Caleb behind.</p><p>"Sorry, Jess, but Dairon wants me home early for some kind of 'family night' kind of bs," Beau groans out.</p><p>"Okay!" Jester says. The two split up near Jester's home and wish each other a good night. A few days later, Beau decides to check back in with Veth.</p><p><em>'Did you convince the nerd to go?'</em> she asks. A smiley face emoji and two thumbs up emojis are the first reply.</p><p><em>'we're going to the mall today to get him something to wear.'</em> She sighs in relief.</p><p>"Something good happen?" a soft voice asks from behind her. She glances behind her to see her tall muscular girlfriend coming over to sit behind her.</p><p>"Yeah…Ya know how I told ya that Fjord got back with Avantika?" she asks. Her pale-skinned girlfriend hums in response.</p><p>"Well, Jess was real upset about the whole thing, and I managed to figure out a way to make her happy again," she explained self-satisfactorily.</p><p>"Oh?"</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"How'd you manage that?" the black and white haired woman asks. She places her hands-on Beau's shoulders and begins giving her the shoulder massage she'd requested earlier.</p><p>"I got Veth to convince Caleb to take her instead," she says through moans of pleasure. She had to admit that Yasha was really great with her hands.</p><p>"Wow! Never thought that Caleb would ever go to a dance." Her eyes go wide, but she knows that Beau wouldn't lie to her about something as ridiculous sounding as their mutual bookish friend willingly going to a social function.</p><p>"Yeah, me neither," Beau admits.</p><p><em>'wat color dress did jess get?'</em> Veth asks.</p><p><em>'Purple. It's like a lavender one. She's been ranting and raving about how Caleb complimented her about the whole princess thing all week,' </em>she texts back with a rolling eyes emoji.</p><p>
  <em>'lol. ok. u didn't tell jester did u?'</em>
</p><p>
  <em>'Of course not.'</em>
</p><p><em>'good. lebby's still in the dark. operation cheer up jester is in full effect.'</em> Beau rolls her eyes and puts her phone away without replying. Veth could certainly be dramatic at times.</p><p>"Everything good?" Yasha asks.</p><p>"Yeah. Veth is taking Caleb to get his outfit for prom," she explains.</p><p>"Ah, well that's good." The pair stay silent for the rest of her massage and make-out session. This prom would be great, she muses. A week later and Beau finds herself at Jester's place again. Yasha would be there very soon, and hopefully, Caleb and Veth would be there not long after.</p><p>Jester comes out of her mom's room and joins Beau in her room. The blue pantsuit wearing human looks up, and her jaw nearly hits the floor. Caleb was right. Jester looks like a fairytale princess with her long floofy dress and elegant updo. A fluffy white shawl rests against her surprisingly muscular biceps. Beau somehow had forgotten until now just how buff her shorter friend is.</p><p>"How do I look?" she asks shyly. Beau blinks at her a few times.</p><p>"Uh…uh..uh..oh..yeah, great!...You'll be the life of the party," she stutters.</p><p>"Really?" Jester asks with a sad smile.</p><p>"Hell yeah!" The tiefling studies her hands as she fidgets with her dress.</p><p>"Do you think that Fjord will like it?" she asks softly.</p><p>"He'd be a fucking moron not to," she defends aggressively. The door opens again, and the tall form of Yasha in her form-fitting black dress enters.</p><p>"Daaaaaayyyyyymmmmmmmnnnnnn, girl!" Beau admires. The pale woman's face reddens.</p><p>"You look good too, Beau. And so, do you, Jester," she compliments.</p><p>"Oh, thanks, Yasha! You look reeeeeeeeeaaaaaallllllly pretty too!" Jester gushes. The long-haired woman gives her a warm smile.</p><p>He stares at the lanky man in the full-length mirror. His eyes roam over the polished knee-length boots of onyx, the dark grey pants, white silk shirt, and deep lilac tie that matches the long billowing coat that sits just above the man's ankles. His eyes linger on the clean-shaven angular face and dimpled chin of the man before him. His long auburn hair is pulled back in a low ponytail with a grey silk ribbon.</p><p>"You look handsome, Caleb!" his roommate exclaims from beside him. He frowns and the man before him mimics it.</p><p>"I don't know how I managed to get myself dragged into this mess," he grumbles. He pinches his forehead between his fingers.</p><p>"I can't do this…I'm gonna call Beau and call zee whole sink off." The shorter dark-skinned woman jumps up in fury.</p><p>"Absolutely not! You can't do that! Jest…I meeeeeaaaaaan Beau would be crushed," she rants. Small beads of sweat begin to trickle down her face as she tries to avoid his discerning eyes. He raises an eyebrow.</p><p>"Why would Beauregard even care? She didn't vant to go to zee dance in zee first place. Plus, she knows zat I don't like dances. But tell me vhy vould Jester be crushed?" he asks. His little friend frantically looks around for a way out.</p><p>"Ummm….I don't…umm.."</p><p>"Vat is really goink on, Veth?" he demands. He knows his friend is not the best at hiding things, and he can easily tell that she's trying desperately to hide something and failing at it miserably.</p><p>"Umm…weeeeeelllll…I kind of promised Beau that I wouldn't tell anyone," she answers.</p><p>"You promised Beauregard vat? Zat you vouldn't tell me exactly vhy she asked me to go to prom with her and not Yasha?" he asks. She nods slowly.</p><p>"Kind of," she admits. He folds his arms and gives her a stern look.</p><p>"Veth," he grumbles.</p><p>"Okay, okay, okay, I'll tell you, but you can't tell Beau that I said anything to you!" she offers. He nods and gives her a hand motion to continue.</p><p>"Okay, soooo..umm, you know how Jester and Fjord had a falling out recently?" she begins.</p><p>"Ja. Jester vas very upset about it." His quick answer doesn't really catch her by surprise considering his incredible memory, but it did surprise her that he was that in tune with their mutual friend's feelings. She chalked it up to another Caleb oddity along with the pink rising on his cheeks.</p><p>"Yeeeeeaaaaah, well she was considering not going to the prom at all and was so upset that Beau wanted to try and cheer her up somehow…"</p><p>"So, she asked me to go to prom instead," he finishes. She nods.</p><p>"Yeah, she was gonna ask you to go and then, like, try and find some way to bail on you and offer you to take Jester instead." His cerulean eyes roll in their sockets.</p><p>"I don't know vhy I am even remotely surprised at zis."</p><p>"Soooooo, are you still going to go to prom?" Veth asks shyly. The redhead sighs heavily.</p><p>"Ja. I vill do it for Jester," he answers.</p><p>"Yay!" Veth exclaims as she does a little dance, her sparkly yellow party dress swishing. He runs a hand through his hair with a sigh.</p><p>"Are vee meeting them both at Jester's?" he asks to which Veth nods.</p><p>"Okay." Another sigh.</p><p>"I have somevhere I'd like to go before we get there, so I'll meet you there," he tells her. Veth goes to say something, but he puts a hand up.</p><p>"Don't…I already said I'd do zis, and I'm not about to go against my vord." That seems to satisfy her, and she nods and lets him go. She isn't sure exactly what her odd roommate has in mind, but she does trust him at least. She should tell Beau about Caleb finding out about Jester being his actual date, but she also doesn't think that it would make any difference anyways.</p><p>As she finishes getting her makeup ready and grabbing her things, she's hit by the sudden thought that perhaps allowing Caleb to go and run off on his own wasn't the greatest idea in the world. A million and one thoughts of just how wrong things could go or how he could've gotten himself hurt. But there is only one that makes her wonder if she had just been duped by her much smarter best friend. She knows that she has to do something; so, she rushes out the door with her makeup half-finished and heads straight to Jester's place to fetch the girls for help.</p><p>It isn't long after Yasha's arrival at Jester's house that the girls at the Chateau hear the frantic clicks of high heels running up the stairs. Beau lifts an eyebrow and narrows her gaze towards the door. The chubby halfling girl, Veth, rushes into the room in her sparkly yellow prom dress and fancily braided hair. She pants heavily and tries unsuccessfully to speak several times.</p><p>"What the fuck, Veth?" Beau asks.</p><p>"Caleb…" is the only thing she manages to breathe out in between pants before she's interrupted.</p><p>"Cayleb? What about Cayleb? Did he get hurt or something?" Jester asks in concern. Veth shakes her head.</p><p>"He didn't chicken out on me, did he? 'Cause if he did, he's a dead man," Beau demands. Veth shakes her head again.</p><p>"I don't know where he is. I told him what you said to me, and he said he had to do something before coming over and just left," Veth rants.</p><p>"You fucking told him?! What the fuck?! I specifically told you NOT to do that!" Beau explodes.</p><p>"I know, but he's so smart and he…"</p><p>"Look, Beau, it doesn't really matter," Yasha argues as she puts a hand on her girlfriend's arm. Beau sighs.</p><p>"Yeah, fine, whatever." Beau turns to Veth and points an accusatory finger at her.</p><p>"You know how he is with dances and yet you STILL left him alone? What the fuck did you THINK was going to happen?" Veth shrugs.</p><p>"Beau…" Jester whines.</p><p>"He could be anyfuckingwhere," Beau continues. It is a short ten minutes after the redhead left his and Veth's home that he finds himself at the Lavish Chateau with sweaty hands slipping on the velvet box held between them. He takes a deep breath.</p><p>"You can do zis, Widogast. It's just for vone night, and it's not like it use to be. Astrid won't be zere and neither vill Ickithon, so you have nothing to vorry about," he psyches himself up. He takes another deep breath and rings the doorbell. An exceptionally large man greets him at the door, and he has to swallow his panic and discomfort to ask to see/speak with Jester. The man looks him up and down before ushering him inside to a small sitting room. The velvet box between his slick palms is a welcome distraction from his nerves and anxieties. He's so deep in his thoughts that he doesn't notice the clicking high heels coming down the stairs.</p><p>"CAYLEB!" he hears his date cry out. He turns and gapes at the beautiful girl coming down the stairs looking every inch like a Disney princess descending a set of stairs to meet with their prince. All she needs now is a prince, he thinks. A warm smile lights up her lavender painted lips and just seeing the warmth and utter joy on her face quirks his own lips upwards into a smile that pales in compare. He can't help but continue to stare at her radiance as she walks towards him.</p><p>An unbidden sigh of contentment passes his lips. He had always found the quirky girl beautiful, but seeing her like this staring at him with a purple blush tinging her cheeks as her eyes pass up and down his form several times is overwhelming. He is so caught up in his adoration of her that he doesn't hear Jester repeatedly asking him what he's doing there. He blinks a few times as he watches her mouth moving and comes back to himself just in time to hear her rave about how his hair looks so bright and soft and clean for a change.</p><p>"J..Jes.." he stutters. He clears his throat before standing and trying again.</p><p>"Jester…" he doesn't get a chance to say more as the tiefling in question shrieks and covers her mouth with her hands. Her blush spreads across her face, and her eyes gaze at him with the same look of tender longing and desire that he would often see her give Fjord.</p><p>"Oh, Cayleb…You look sooooooo handsome! You totally look like a prince," she gushes. His face flushes as he looks away. Surely, he isn't worthy of being looked at the way she is now. She finally notices the velvet box in his sweaty hands, and exuberantly waves her hands in front of her.</p><p>"Oooo…what's in the box, Cayleb?" He looks at his hands, finally remembering the box he's been holding this entire time.</p><p>"Oh, it's something for you," he mutters shyly. She clutches her hands over her chest, and her whole face brightens with the warm, love-filled smile she gives him.</p><p>"Really?" she asks softly. It isn't very often that she's given a gift, and it had undoubtedly been a long time since she was given a gift from a boy she had a crush on. He nods and offers the box to her. She bounces on her toes slightly as she takes a deep breath and slowly moves her hands to the box. As she's openly the top, Caleb can see the forms of his other female friends approaching the stairs. He reasons that all the commotion had alerted them to his presence.</p><p>Jester lets out a shriek of delight that startles him into almost dropping the box and its contents. Beau leaps and bounds down the stairs, looking more like a panther on the prowl than a human woman. She reaches Jester and glares at her fellow human accusatorily. All the while, Jester is covering her mouth as tears start to form in her eyes.</p><p>"It's so beautiful, Cayleb," she whispers. He lifts his eyes to look at her fondly and gives her a rare smile of adoration. By now, his face is nearly as red as his hair, but the smiling tiefling in her gorgeous lavender gown and elegant hairstyle gives him a reason to not care as much about that. Beau glances at the box out of the corner of her eye and her face softens slightly.</p><p>"Gods, Widogast! You're such a fucking sap!" she insults. Jester turns on her best friend and gives her the scariest glare Caleb has ever seen on his chaotically delightful friend's face.</p><p>"Weeeeellllll, I think it's very thoughtful of him, and I really like it," she scolds. Beau straightens up and throws her arms in the air in surrender.</p><p>"Maybe we should let them talk for a bit…We should be going anyways, or we'll be late," Yasha says from behind Beau as she places a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>"Huh?...oh, yeah, sure," Beau stumbles as she allows the larger woman to lead her away. Veth gives Caleb a double thumbs-up before she follows them.</p><p>"Soooooooo…" Jester starts, and oh gods, when did she turn around to look at him with that loving expression again? He swallows down a lump in his throat.</p><p>"So?" She sighs.</p><p>"Are you going to, liiiike, put it on me?" she asks softly. He nods.</p><p>"Oh..uh..j..ja..ja," he stutters. Her heart pounds out a symphony she's sure that he can hear as he puts the box down and removes the delicate piece from its velvet coffin. Despite growing up with her mother, Jester is sure that she's never seen a more beautiful piece of jewelry than this, and it's all hers.</p><p>"Thank you," she whispers as she looks down shyly. The tiefling is no stranger to attention, but she has found recently that perhaps she is a stranger to the attention of someone who genuinely cares and knows how to make her feel good. And boy howdy does Caleb make her feel good. He's always been so warm and kind to her, and her heart skips a beat as she thinks of all the kindnesses he's shown her. All the magic spells he's shown off to her that he knew she'd enjoy, all the pranks he's helped her pull, all the times he's given her advice and just allowed her to get things off of her chest, and especially all the times he's just allowed her to be herself without judgment.</p><p>She sighs again and looks up to see him smiling at her. She finds herself unable to resist the spell he's put over her, and she smiles back. He approaches her slowly and deliberately, his unique musky scent permeating her nose as he does.</p><p>"I don't want to mess up your hair," he whispers as if he's afraid talking any louder will break the moment.</p><p>"It's okay." Her voice barely breaks the surface as she gives him a slight nod.</p><p>"Okay," he whispers back. He very delicately moves his hands up to the top of her head and gently places the silver tiara into her deep blue locks. The tiara is a very dainty piece of silver branches twirled round each other in delicate swirls with small diamonds on the tips that frame a larger sapphire in the center. The two break away as Jester spins around, her poofy dress swirling around her as she does.</p><p>"How do I look? Do I look like a princess? I bet I do," she asks.</p><p>He nods and whispers, "Always." Tears stream down her face and she rushes at him to gather him into her arms.</p><p>"You're a real good friend, Cayleb," she says through tears. She breathes in his scent deeply and sends a silent prayer to her god to make this moment last forever. Her prayer goes unanswered, but Caleb places his head on hers and with a little effort snakes his arms around her.</p><p>"You are too," he breathes into her hair. She smiles into his coat.</p><p>"Hey! You two coming?!" Veth shouts from the entranceway. Caleb chuckles and Jester joins him.</p><p>"Ja!" he shouts back.</p><p>"Guess we should get going then?" he says as he turns to her.</p><p>"Ja, guess so." He offers his arm to her and she eagerly slips hers in his with a squeal of joy. He chuckles and glances down at her with a smile of contentment. It had been years since he'd last danced, but he wasn't about to allow his misery and trauma to ruin this for Jester.</p><p>"You know what, Cayleb?" she asks out of the blue. He turns and regards her with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"Was?"</p><p>"I'm kind of glad that Beau asked you to take me to prom," she tells him. His eyes go wide. He hadn't been aware that Jester had known the entire time.</p><p>"D..di..did Beauregard t..t..tell you?" he stumbles over his words. She shakes her head.</p><p>"No. I just kind of figured it out when she was texting a whole bunch of people and stuff and then when Veth said that you were coming to prom and, liiiikkee, meeting us here and stuff, it was kind of obvious," she explains. Caleb chuckles.</p><p>"Can't hide anything from you, eh Blueberry?" he jokes.</p><p>"Nope!" she quips with a jovial smile which he returns with a much smaller one.</p><p>"But…no, really, Cayleb…I'm glad that you're the one taking me. 'Cause, liiiike, Fjord was being a <strong>real</strong> jerk to me and stuff and you've always been a good friend to me and, liiiiiike, reeeeeaaaaallllly handsome and I kind of, sort of, maybe like you…." she admits. Caleb stops dead in his tracks. Jester nearly trips before realizing her partner is not coming along.</p><p>"Cayleb?" she asks in concern. The man is completely frozen, and an unreadable expression crosses his face before his usual miserable demeanor returns.</p><p>"Oh, Jester, I'm no good for you," he tells her.</p><p>"Weeeeelllllll, we don't have to, liiiiiike, be like <strong>that</strong>, you know? We could just go and, liiiiiikkke, have fun and stuff, you know?" she negotiates.</p><p>"I…" he begins sadly.</p><p>"It's okay, Cayleb. We don't have to talk about his now. Let's just go and have fun, and we can talk about all this stuff later," she tells him. He nods but it lacks any enthusiasm.</p><p>"Hey, Cayleb?" He hums in response.</p><p>"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean to upset you," she apologizes.</p><p>"You didn't upset me, Jester. I just believe zat you should be with someone better for you than me," he explains.</p><p>"Sooooo, you're not mad?" she asks.</p><p>"Nein."</p><p>"Okay. Good. Well, let's go and catch up to the others and have the bestest time!" He finds himself chuckling again.</p><p>"Ja, okay." The pair find their friends outside with Veth's boyfriend, Yeza.</p><p>"Took ya long enough," Beau quips.</p><p>"Beau…" Yasha warns.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah. Let's just go and party. I'd like to be able to get my drink on sooner rather than later," Beau answers as she leads the way with Yasha not far behind.</p><p>"You really do look very handsome, Cayleb," Jester whispers from the back of the pack.</p><p>"And I meant it when I said you look like a princess," he whispers back.</p><p>"And now I reeeaaaallly look like one," she jokes in a hushed tone.</p><p>"Ja, but you always do," he mutters. And though she isn't quite sure of his feelings for her, she finds that she doesn't care and that simply being beside him is enough for her, at least for now.</p>
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